YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Will a win this Saturday be enough for the YSU football team to make the FCS playoffs? The Penguins believe it is.
“Yeah, I do. You know, we went on a three-game run, which isn’t easy,” said YSU head coach Doug Phillips. “We’ve seen some failure this year. We’ve lost to two number-one teams in the country, FBS (Ohio State) and FCS (South Dakota State). We lost two games by three points. But for us, I think the resumé speaks for itself. Do we wish it was better? Yeah.”
“We still feel like a playoff team,” said Penguins junior lineman Chris Fitzgerald. “We feel like we can go out there, at our best, we can take on anybody out there. If they give us an opportunity. They’re going to see what we can do.”
The Penguins are currently in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and are hoping the playoff committee values the strength of that league.
“All I know is there’s a lot of teams fighting to be 5-3 in this league and finish third and fourth in this league. That’s their goal. Get five league wins, get seven wins (overall) and let the chips lie wherever they do,” Phillips said.
“We know at the end of the day who we are and how good of a team we are,” said Penguins junior lineman Aidan Parker. “We get in the playoffs, anything can happen. And we start to put it all together, we’re going to be a really scary team.”
The Penguins will finish up the regular season on the road against Murray State. They kick off with the Racers Saturday at 2 p.m.
